Grinder machine for strip stock or the like



May 25, 1943. ILLMER EI'AL GRINDER MACHINE FOR STRIP STOCK OR THE LIKEFiled July 14, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l m M mm m A 1 m m -I. a .I- o m V km7 2 i 3 1 Su Em w a G 0 O n UN: "EPA/WW1 n o .lmvld km mm mm o v m m"mmmm mH $3 3 UUUUHIU 2 U U U U H U HHHHHHnnHnun ON TV (Ittorneg May 25,1943. 1.. ILLMER ETAL 2,320,142

GRINDER MACHINE FOR STRIP STOCK OR THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 3Sheets-Sheet 2 F IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 57/ I! VIIIA'IIIIIA 711174 f3nvcutor5. Lou/slLLMEA VERNoNRPHLLHs Gttorncu y 1943- IL. ILLMER ETAL2,320,142

GRINDER MACHINE FOR STRIP STOCK on THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 sSheets-Sheet 3 31wcntor3; Lou/s L LME'? VERNON R. PHLLHS D 3 attorneyPatented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRINDER MACHINE FORSTRIP STOCK OR THE LIKE Louis Illmer and Vernon R. Pallas, Cortland,

N. Y.; said Pallas assignor to Leota T. Pallas Application July 14,1941, Serial No. 402,352

15 Claims. (C1. 51-150) This invention relates to a commerciallypracticable surface finishing apparatus in which abrasive tape iseffectively utilized, and more especially pertains to an improvednon-rotating head type of machine adapted to rapidly apply a lustrousmetallic pohsh to fast moving round or fiat strip stock, butt weldedrods or other reelable products when dragged longitudinally through ourcompact machine in one or more passes. The present compartment type ofmachine is particularly designed to efficiently grind and highly polishhardened piano, stainless steel wires or the like high tensile stripstock without requiring any fast moving parts except for the treatedwire itself'and its drag mechanism.

The instant specification represents certain improvements over ourcopending application Serial No. 366,596 as filed November 22, 1940 andsimilarly resorts to a series of laterally spaced bulkheads orstationary frame plates, re-

spectively having mounted thereon angularly staggered abrasive tapesarranged to treat crosssectionally flat or round work pieces. feredproduct velocity of several thousand feet per minute affords a fastproductive rate for a given collective width of active tapes and resultsin proportionately low machine and prod-- uct costs.

The present machine further comprises a plurality oi independentlydemountable disc units, each equipped with a full complement of tapefeed roller devices. Each such self-com tained, stationary disc isherein provided with novel flexible drive shafting for actuating thetape feed roller means, the discs being mounted.

into a horizontal split housing having circular guideways in which thedisc units may. respectively be upheld and manually rotated forservicing. A radial slot provided in each disc per- A pre-' mits ofindependent disc removal without having [erred exemplifications, and inwhich drawings: V

Fig. 1 represents an elevational side view of a single split housingassembly and associated reel parts embodying our invention, and Fig. 2 atop view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional housing View taken along 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 details a gear bracket for driving a flexible shaft as takenalong 4- 4 of Fig. 3, while Fig. 5 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 6 shows an edge view of a demountable disc bodily removed from thehousing and having its mated control accessories attached to therespective side faces.

Figs. 7 and 8 respectively depict opposed face views of the assembleddiscs.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental cross-sectional view taken along 99 of Fig. 7,and Fig. 10 rcpresents a similar 'view taken along Ill-ii! of Fig. 8.Fig. 11 represents a fragmental view of the tape'clamping jaws alongIl--ll of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 12 shows a transverse section of said jaws.

Fig. 13 is an elevational assembly of our wire grip mechanism as seenalong l3--I3 of Fig. 1. and Fig. 14 is a top' View thereof.

Figs. 15 and 16 detail one of the roller units comprised in suchmechanism,

Fig. 17 illustrates a housing disc provided with a modified tape rollerarrangement, and Fig. 18 reveals the jaw details associated therewith.

Referring more specifically to these disclosures, our split housing maybe fabricated in v sheet metal to comprise a pair of laterally spacedfoundation rails such as l i] having a base ll mounted thereacross (seeFig. 3). The upright longitudinal side walls of said base mayrespectively be inturned to provide for skirt ledges l2 and I2 which mayconstitute the parting plane of said housing; Bridging these ledges areaseries of depending twin flanges such asl3 and I3 (see Fig. 6) that maybe given a semicircular angle iron shape and the outer perim eter ofwhich angles may be welded to the trough shell M. An ejection pipe l5may vent said trough and carry off abraded waste products.

A superimposed semi-cylindrical cover sheet' I 6 may be cross braced bythe struts l1 and bolted in place to span said ledges as shown. Thiscrowned cover may be equipped with a series of twin angle iron ribs thatsuccessively register with the corresponding base elements to providefor aplurality of endless disc receiving grooves or guideways I8A, IBB,etc. For convenience of drives a transverse stub spindle '29 which maybe socketed for the reception of the laterally flexible shaftingincluding a stationary armor having a driven core rotatably mountedtherein.- 'A motorized variable speed transmission 'unit32 having afinger tip control 33, may chain drive one end of the line shaft 25 toimpart a very slow but controlled rotation to said line shaft and itsseveralgear-connected-fiexible shaftings 30.

Such coupled spindle and shafting constitute disconnective transmissionmeans arranged to facilitate the independent removal of any one housingpartition.

Entered into each of the guideways IBA; [8B, etc. is a stationarypartition disc 34 of sheet metal, the respective discs beingcentrally'apertured at 35 and having a radial slot 36 extending to thedisc perimeter. An elongated work piece 31 preferably of reelable roundor-fiat metallic ribbonstock, may be threaded'endwise through'therespective disc-apertures. Each discmay be pivotally carried upon a pairof trunnion rollers such as 3| which facilitate upturning theirrespective slots into registry.

As schematically indicated in 'Figs.'1 and 2, a

driven take-up reel 38 equipped with convention-'- al level windermeans, may be located at the aft end of our housing, it being understoodthat the strip stock is to be 'alignedly fed'oif a brake loadedcompanion supply reel (not showm locatedat the fore-or oppositeh'ousing'end;

If desired, the strip'stock'may be straightened, and woundon ademountable' supply reel in sufficiently long lengths to keep ourmachine in operation for a protracted time' period; To this end,adjacent terminals of a series of component wire or rod lengths may be'buttwelde'd' and wrapped in ilayerson an appropriate supplyreeli Asuitable lead wire'maybe included for initially wrapping the respectivedrums. A pair of lateral guide rollers 39 serve to maintain the treatedwire in proper axial alignment with the several disc apertures 35 whilebeing'ree'led. When handling high" tensile straightened wires or rods upto about onefourth inch in diameter, it is expedient to resort tocorrespondingly large" reels that shall not im'-' pose a permanentset'to the wound wire.

Spe'cial'provision' has been made to rapidly drag saidwirelongitudinally independently of the off-take reelpull and t'husafford adequate cutting action for our slowly'fedpolishing tapes: A

primary motor 40 is clutch pulleyM provided with the control 'lever 4!.One endof the main pulley shaft may be chain driven to the take-up reelshaft 42 which in turn'is equipped with an adjustable slip clutch 43.The tensioned wire when longitudinally advanced through,manytapeshavin'g a collective width substantially equal 'to the housinglength; is sub shown belt driven to a mam jectedto drag of considerablemagnitude likely to mar alustrous superficial finishwhen wire-is to beclosely wound in deep layers and dragged solelyby a powendriven take-upreel.

By the use of driven supplementary belts such as 45 and 46 respectivelycooperating with numerous opposed backing grip rollers 41 and 48 andhavin the work piece interposed between, the take-up reel may berelieved-of its usual drag duty. The reel 38 is preferably geared toovertravel its drum perimeter by slip on part of the clutch 43 wherebyto keep the wire taut without slackening as it leaves the last griproller in the arrowed travel direction.

Referring in detail to Figs. 13 to 16, such grip mechanism may beinbuilt into a sheet metal framework 50 in which two pairs of axiallyspaced pulleys 5| and 52, also 5| and 52', may respectively be installedupon separate axles horizontally extending crosswise of the treatedwire. The upper and lower aft axles 53 and 54 may be superimposedin-parallelism and have the motor driven main pulley 44 mounted on onesuch axle. A train of gears 55 interconnects these axles forsimultaneous rotation in reversed directions. -A

set of upper and lower fore-counter axles may be similarly disposed butwithout gear connection,

since these may be independently driven by the lap spliced endless belts45 and 45 in the Fig. 1 fashion.

Opposed belt tighteners may serve to keep tautthe next adjacent beltsections 45' and 46' that move in a like direction. As indicated in Fig.15, these spaced superimposed belt faces may be of adequate width totransmit the required power to a heavily dragged wire. Snuglycircumscribing each belt 45 and 46 is a dressable grip strap 57 and 58between which a round-0r flat work piece may be frictionall clamped.Such endless strips are preferably made of high grade chrome leatherwith a shallow initial groove therealong and replaceably glued to theexterior of its pulley driven belt.

In order to releasably control the grip of the interposed wire, a seriesof upper and lower back ing rollers such as 47 and 48 may be fluidactuated by the use of the reversely pivoted yokes 6B and 6|. A bracketplate-62 may be removably clamped to an upright plate of the framework50 to overhangingly carry said yokes thereon as shown. Each outer yokeend is provided with a high speed backing roller preferably of the ballbearing type since its radially loaded outer race perimeter must rotateat belt velocity which is kept identical with the rate of the desiredwire travel of more than one thousand feet per minute. A metallicbellows or the like diaphragm means 63 may be interposed between theinner yoke ends. The thrust of the several retractible roller pairs maybe controlled in unison by the interconnected fluid supply pipes such as64 that lead to a branch 24.

A yoke spring 65 may automatically relieve theroller thrust after thefluid supply iscut off. In

' still dominate the anticipated tape drag through the Fig. 1 housing.The use of such closely spaced opposed rollers when cushioned by leatheror the like agency, efiects a well distributed clamping grip on thewire.

In the case of tandem units, their respective grip mechanism serve todistribute the required drag of the treated wire through the severalhousings and deliver the same into the next housing substantiallyrelieved of drag tension.

In such tandem arrangement, it is preferred to gearv interconnect allthe grip pulleys to run in unison from a common motor by means of anequalizing drive.

Attention is now directed to Figs. 6 to 12 in which the first named.reveals the novel manner in wh-ich'our independent spool carrying unitsmay be dropped intoany particular split housing groove such as I8A,.I8B, etc. Each such unit comprises a demountable circular disc 34 ofsheet metal of which the perimeter may be provided with a keyway 68 thatwhen properly located falls into registry with a retractible bolt 69disposed near the housing parting plane (see Fig. 3). Upon removal ofthe disc embracing segmental cover .I6 and withdrawal of said bolt, thedisc maybe freely rotated manually about its centralized wire receivinghole 35. The successivekeyed disc assemblies are intended to beangularly staggered and locked .to bring their respective tapes inproper relationship to uniformly abrade the entire superficial surfaceof the treated wire 31. After disengaging the flexible shafting 39 fromits socketed stub spindle 29, and breaking the air supply connections,the narrow disc slot 36 allows of selectively demounting any one discassembly while the wire 38 remains threaded through the other units.After bodily removal from its groove by the use of the disc pry holes 1!the associated tape spools of any one disc mat be conveniently reloadedor a stocked substitute p disc-may be inserted in lieu of a spent disc.Such independent hoisting not only facilitates servicing but permitsadjacent discs to be closely spaced apart at the minimum of clearance.In lieu thereof, the several discs may also be additionally spacedlaterally and manually rotated to bring their cleared spools uppermostwithout having to bodily demount any of such discs for tapereplenishment.

The stationary discs may each carry reversely disposed tape. spools 12and 13 respectively, as will'be seen from the assembled face views inFigs, '7 and 8f Theselayouts are substantially identical except for"being shifted angularly to partially counterbalance the tape clampingthrust I againstfthe treated work piece. The Fig. 9 disc side face hasbracketed thereto an angle head casing 14 that preferably mounts a headworm I and a cooperating worm gear shaft 16, which latter is disposed inparallelism with the spool spindles. Axially aligned with said gearshaft, is a fixed solid stanchion 11 about which rotates the drag gearI8 provided with a pin that is driven from said worm shaft. The worm I5is preferably actuated through an individual flexible shafting which inturn may be selectively rotated by the common transmission unit 32.

A fixed tubular stanchion 19 has an end riveted into one such disc face.R-otatably surrounding said stanchion is a driven feed roller 89 ofwhich the disc end is provided with a gear that meshes with the draggear 78. A stub shaft BI is rotatable interiorly of said stanchion andmay be carried along with the feed roller by the drag pin 82. Theoverhanging inner end of said stub shaft extending through the disc, maybe provided with an intermediate gear 83 that meshes with the rollergear 84 to drive its flanged feed roller 85 located upon the opposited-isc face. The aim is to utilize a single angle head for each discassembly and to simplify the required severable connections associatedtherewith. The arrowed directions indicate the respective gearrotations. In addition, each face layout may be provided with a pair offlanged idler rollers such as 81 and 8B (or 81' and 88') which guidetheir respective single tapes 86 or 86' into operative position aboutthe treated wire. As shown in Fig. 10, one'such idler roller namely 88or 88, may have one end thereof equipped with an adjustable spring clip89 which imposes a retarding drag on the advancing tape.

As a further refinement, we preferably but not necessarily resort to apair of centrally pivoted companion shoes or tape clamping jaws 90 and9|. A bracket flange 92 may be attached to the center region of eachdisc side face as shownand respectively provided with an overhangingbored jacket 93 in which is mounted a tubular slide 94.

Said slide may be pneumatically actuated by a metallic bellows agency 95to thrust the longitudinally grooved shoe 9| towardthe treated wire 31and which bellows is pipe connected to a branch supply 24. The opposedcomplementary backing shoe 9!! may be provided with relatively smallwrap circumferentially about the treated stock in order to attain acorrespondingly enlarged cutting contact therewith. tape 86f is carriedfrom its spool 13 over the idler roller 81 and beneath the shoe 9| intoan angularly wrapped relation with respect to the treated wire 31 asdetailed in Fig. 12. The tape may then be threaded around the companionidler roller 88 and interposed between said wire and the jaw roller 96,whereupon said tape is carried to the flanged driven feed roller 85. Atape clamping roller 9'5 may be pivotally mounted upon spring retainedguide links 98 to obviate tape slippage about its feed roller. thespring tape may be carried to a take-off spool (not shown) or severedfrom time to time after accumulation. When dismounting a disc from itsguideways, a corresponding looped tape end may be loosened and withdrawnfrom the interposed wire.

The widely divergent disposition given to each of, our tapes 86 and 86'allows the braded mate rial to freely drop or be blown away from theirrespective cutting zones. airinjector nozzle tubes such as 99 may beerected upongthe flange 92 and located between the respective divergenttape regions. Such injected fiuid may be supplied through the nipple E80that connects with the branch pipe 24 to promptly remove any. abrasivematerial that may otherwise tend to lodge in such regions and also topartially cool the treated wire while being frictionally dragged.

Referring now to Fig. 17, this discloses a modified disc layout in whichtwin tapes are provided on each side face of the disc IiII. Herecompanion spools I02 and I93 independently supply the abrasive tapes IMand I05 as indicated by I dotted and dashed lines. Disposed around thespool I92 are multiple upstanding guide rollers I96 to I99 which carrythe tape in a circumferentially cleared loop about the last named spooland into operative engagement with its feed roller III]. Said feedroller may be mounted upon a fixed tubular stanchion identical with thecorresponding element 19 of Fig. 9 and similarly equipped with a stubshaft that extends through In Fig. 8, the abrasive The advanced free endof.

A pair of upstanding the disc Ifllitodrive thecomplementary feed.

tape I as shown. All of these gears mayxbe' simultaneously actuated intheir arrowed directions by the flexible shafting 3E3. The rollerlayouts on both disc sides are identical except that as. indicated indotted outline, the tape supply spools- IO2 .and Hi3 onone side .facemay be angularly displaced by a certain lead angle A with respect to thecorresponding full-lined spools on the other side face.

The underlying purpose-of said multiple rollers I06IIJ9 is to allow of"centralizing the required roller gearing wholly .to one side-of thedisc center-line CD and thereby obviate having to spread apart thecomplementary feed rollers I Ill and II! into opposed disc regions. Thebracket flange. I I 8 is provided with an actuated bellows agency andwith reversely pivoted backing shoes I and IZI as detailed in Fig. v18.The treated wire 31 is interposed between the'tapes- I94 and I 05, thelast named being preferably arranged to constitute a planiform cuttingzone I 22 and its mated tape HM being divergently disposed. The shoe I26may also be provided with a round edged flat zone I23 that liesinparallelism with the opposed zone I22 whereby to establish assured baancedtangential contact with the treated wire in reversed dragdirections. The self-centering abrasive grip of said tapes represents apreferred embodiment in not being modified by a limited sag or the likelateral shift on part of the tensioned wire 31.

The disc IilI is again provided with a radial slot I24. In order toclear said slot for unobstructed disc removal, the idler roller I25 forthe tape I65 is preferably retractibly mounted to swing out of the wayabout the pivot I26 into its dotted non-overlapping slot position. A setscrew I21 locks said roller in operative position.

If desired, such idler roller may also be non-retractibly mounted in itsdotted position, in which event the corresponding tape backing shoe'edgeshould be more bluntly rounded.

Such cleared slot afiords an advantage in that when the slot I24 isdirected downwardly into our housing, the disc 'IUI may be freelyhoisted upwardly without entanglement with a work piece 31 whenpreviously threaded through our housing, although all tapes 'on theremoved disc remain engaged about their respective spools. Upon beingcompletely reloaded, the respective tapes of said disc assemblyunobtructedly straddle such work piece while the disc is being droppedinto its guideways.

The mode of operation of the described instrumentalities is thought tobe obvious. For one pass grinding operation on high tensile strip stock,it is preferred to resort to a pair of tandem housing units eachcomprising some 8 to l2 compartments such as ZIA, 213, etc. The firstentered of such units may be charged with coarse grit tape. By a propersetting of the finger tip control 33, such tape may be advanced at arate appropriate for a given stock size to obtain a comparatively fastabrasive action. The second unit may be supplied with finer tape or thesame coarse grit tape may be independently set to ad vance such tape ata relatively slower rate to bring about a grit loading effect adapted toimpart a brilliant longitudinally. stroked; finish. to

the treated product; 1

The large stock of tape provided is ample to last for days ofcontinuousoperation andtsufiicientto treat many tons-of wire. When thetape supply needs to .be'replenished, spare'multiple discs may withtheir completely assembled tapes, be quickly substituted for spent discswithout undulyholding the machineout'of commission. It will beobservedfrom Fig. 6 that the compartmental span W is kept at a minimum so astocompactly install the maximum of tape width into a given overall housinglength. In addition, the 9 rate of tape feed which should be varied withthe size and tensile strength of the treated wire, is 1 placed .underfull control :for each individualhousingand may be altered at will while.the wire is being abrasively treated.

The fact that the wire grip mechanism is pneumatically operated inclutch fashion and'the respective tape clamping jaws may in a like'maneher be relieved, permits. of easy motor starting, particularly inconjunction with the clutch lever 4 I. When working for a single passperformance," the accompanying gross tapedrag may highly The use oftension wire of small diametral size. our individual grip mechanism foreach housing unit stepwise relaxes the ultimate wire pull and henceallows of successively employing groups of wide tapes withoutexceeding-a. given allowable stress. This aspect -is of specialsignificance where mill run lengths are-welded endwise to make up asuficiently long wire to fill the drum of a large supply reel, ascontemplated.

The foregoing disclosure will it is believed, make evident to thoseskilled in this art, the outstanding'commercial advantages afforded byour'novel improvements. It will be obvious that certain structuralaspects of our housing discs and carried tape assemblies are likely-tofind application to purposes other than the superficial polishing orgrinding of metallic strip "stock and we reserve the right tocorrespondingly modify the illustrative disclosures, all withoutdeparting from the-spirit and scope of our invention heretoforevdescribedand more particularly characterized in the appended claims.

We-claim:

1. A grindermachine comprising a housingequipped with'a' pair of spacedguideway means;

independent partition means demountably piloted by the'respectiveguideway means, saidpartition meansbeing each adapted to have a com--mon elongated workpiece entered therethrough, an abrasive elementcarried by each such partition means as a self-contained unit for bodilyremoval therewith, saidelements being respec-' tively brought intooperative engagement with the work piece to constitute separate cuttingzones therealong, means for feeding said elements toward theirrespective zonesyand means for dragging the work the aforesaid cuttingzones.

2. A grinder machine comprising a housing equipped with arcuate guidewaymeans, a partition disc mounted to rotate guideway means and which discis adapted to have an elongated work piece entered therethrough,an'abrasive element carriedon each side face of said disc, said elementsbeing respectively brought into operative engagement with the work pieceto constitute separate cutting zones therealong; drive means carried bysaid disc for simultaneously advancing the "aforesaid elements towardthe engaged work piece, releasable" piece longitudinally throughmanually in said meansservin to retain said disc against unwantedrotation, and power actuated reel means for dragging the work piecelongitudinally.

3. A compartmental grinder machine comprising an axially split tubularhousing which is interiorly equipped with a series of arcuate guidewaysrespectively disposed in spaced relationship lengthwise of the housingaxis, a separate selfcontained disc assembly for each such guideway withcorresponding perimetric disc regions demountably inserted therein andwhich disc assemblies respectively carry a supply of abrasive tape offinite length, such successive discs each being adapted to have a commonelongated work piece, entered therethrough and the several tapes beingbrought into operative engagement with said work piece to establishangularly staggered cutting zones that are distributed to effectivelyembrace the entire work piece profile, feed roller means alsoconstituting a complement of each such disc assembly and serving toadvance their respective tapes onward toward the cutting zone thereof,and means for dragging the work piece longitudinally. 4. A complementalgrinder machine comprising trough shell means including transversepartition means adapted to have a longitudinally movable work pieceentered therethrough, an abrasive element carried by said partitionmeans and which element is brought into operative engagement with thework piece, driven rotatable feed means upheld by said partition meansand serving to advance the said element toward said work piece, drivenline shaft means disposed lengthwise of said shell means and upheldexteriorly of the perimetric confines of the partition means, said lineshaft means including an operatively connected stub spindle of which oneend extends through the shell means, and a flexible shafting lengthmounted interiorly of said confines and serving to couple the extendedspindle end with the driven feed means.

5. A compartmental grinder machine comprising a housing equipped with apair of spaced arcuate guideways, separate partition disc means of whichtheir respective perimetric regions are rotatably and independentlypiloted by the respective guideways, said disc means being each providedwith an open ended radial slot adapted to have a common elongated workpiece dragged through the inner slot end region and which several slotswhen rotated into registry serve to unobstructedly pass the work piecelengthwise of such slots, an abrasive element carried by each such discmeans and which elements are brought into operative engagement with thedragged work piece, means advancing the several elements onward towardtheir respective cutting zones, and means for dragging the work piecelongitudinally through the aforesaid inner slot end regions.

6. A surface grinding machine comprising a compartmental housingequipped with a series of laterally spaced partitions each adapted tohave a common elongated work piece dragged therethrough, an abrasiveelement for each such partition and which elements are brought intooperative engagement with the work piece, a supply reel and a take-upreel located in tandem with the housing and respectively cooperatingwith opposed end regions of the dragged work piece, and a power drivengrip mechanism arranged to tightly clutch a treated rectilinear leadingwork piece portion and thereby drag an untreated trailing work pieceportion through the several partition apertures, said mechanism beinginterposed between the housing and the take-up reel.

7. A surface grinding machine comprising a plurality of housingsrespectively adapted to have a common elongated work piece draggedtherethrough, a series of abrasive elements for each such housing andwhich elements are brought into operative engagement with the workpiece,,

a supply reel and a take-up reel respectively cooperating with opposedend regions of i the dragged work piece, and a. power driven gripmechanism applied to at least one such housing and arranged to tightlyclutch a leading Work piece portion for delivering the work piece to thetake-up reel in a condition substantially relieved of drag tension.

8. In a surface grinder machine provided with abrasive elements, a gripmechanism including complementary pulley driven endless beltsrespectively comprising a spanning length component reversely arrangedin superimposed flatwise adjacency to travel in a common direction atsubstantially the same linear velocity and adapted to have an elongatedtreated work piece tightly clamped lengthwise therebetween, a supplyreel and a take-up reel disposed in tandem with said mechanism andrespectively cooperating with opposed end regions of the dragged workpiece, clutchable motive means for driving said complementary belts, andslippable clutch means tending to overdrive the take-up reel withrespect to the aforesaid linear travel.

9. A surface grinder machine comprising a compartmental housing equippedwith a series of laterally spaced partitions, each adapted to have acommon elongated work piece dragged therethrough, an abrasive elementfor each such partition and which elements are collectively brought intooperative engagement with the work piece, a supply reel and a take-upreellocated in tandem with the housing and respec-- tively' cooperatingwith opposed end regions of the dragged work piece, and a power drivengrip mechanism provided with complementary endless belt meansrespectively comprising a spanning length component reversely arrangedin superimposed fiatwise adjacency to travel in a common direction andadapted to have said work piece interposed therebetween, said mechanismfurther including a series of successive-backing rollers mounted behindthe outermost face of each such spanning length component in opposedaxial registry and which reversed counterpart roller serie respectivelyserve to clamp said length components into gripping engagement towardthe interposed work piece.

10. In a surface grinder machine, a grip mechanism includingcomplementary pulley driven endless belts respectively comprising aspanning length component reversely arranged in superimposed flatwiseadjacency and adapted to have an elongated work piece grippinglyinterposed therebetween, a separate clutchable backing rollerretractibly mounted behind each such spanning length component inaligned axial registry with each other to grip said work piece, andfluid controlled means serving to actuate and set the grip of saidbacking rollers.

11. In a surface grinder machine provided with an abrasive element fortreating an elongated work piece, a grip mechanism includingcomplementary pulley driven endless belts respectively comprising arelatively wide spanning therethrough, twin abrasive tape spoolstogether with idler rolls and driven feed rollers respectively mountedupon a side. of each partition to constitute a demountable unit, thetape from one such spool being initially brought into operativeengagement with the work piece and thence carried circumferentiallyaround the major portion of said one spool over certain idler rolls to acontiguous feed roller, and means for dragging the work piecelongitudinally through the aforesaid partition plates 13. A surfacegrinder machine comprising a compartmental housing equipped with anarcuate guideway, a partition disc mounted to rotate in said guideway,said disc being provided with an open ended radial slot adapted to havean elongated work piece entered through the inner slot end region, anabrasive tape carried on each side face of said disc, said tapes beingrespectively brought into operative engagement with the work piece inspaced edgewise relationship, driven feed roller means carried by saiddisc for simultaneously advancing the tapes onward toward the engagedwork piece, an idler roll arranged to divert one of the advanced tapesfrom a rectilinear course, said roll being mounted to shift intoalternative positions with respect to the disc slot, and power actuatedmeans for dragging the Work piece longitudinally.

14. A compartmental surface grinder machine comprising a longitudinallysplit tubular housing including a semicylindrical base component and amated cover therefor, dual guideway means perimetrically disposedinteriorly of and d laterally interspaced along said housing componentat a distance less than the cylindrical bore size, independentlydemountablepartition discs whose perimeters are respectively pilotedwithingsaidguideway means and serving. to complete a housingcompartment: therebetween, :s'aid discs being respectively'adaptedtohave-a common elongated work piece entered therethrough, pluralabrasivetapes carried upon each inner face of saiddiscs for bodily removal withtheir respective discs, said tapes being collectively brought, intooperative contact ,withethenwork piece, to constitute multifold.regional cutting zones. whose combined .,length;..measured:longitudinally of the workpiece is greater than: the lateral spacing ofsaid discs, actuatedfeed means carried by each such disc andservingtoadvance the tapes thereof toward -.their1-respective" cut-.- tingzones, driven .line...sha'ft.;meansl disposed exteriorly lengthwise .ofsaid housing compartment, disconnective transmission means extendingtransversely. inward through :said. tubular housing and when coupledserving to operatively interconnect the line shaft. means-with each ofthe several feed means, and means for dragging the work piecelongitudinally through the aforesaid cutting zones.

15. A compartmental surface grinder machine comprising .a longitudinallysplit tubular housing including .a mounted base component and a matedcover therefor, a succession of interspaced guideway means arrangedadjacent to the base perimeter, independently demountable partitionmeans-whose. perimetric regions are respectively piloted by saidguideway means, said partition means being, respectively adapted to havea common elongatedwork piece threaded therethrough and each of whichpartitiommeans individually have the following cooperative accessories,assemlc' ledthereon namely: a pair of tape spools, an actuated feedroller for each tape, and a train of spur gears operativelyinterconnecting the feedrollers ofeachsuch disc,said partitionassemblies being respectively driven by common line shaft means-disposedexteriorlylengthwise of the enclosed housing and which line shaft-meansinclude disconnective transmission means extending .transversely inwardthrough said housing, the aforesaid transmis-- sion means Whencoupledrespectively serving to operatively interconnect the severalfeedrollersto run in synchronismwith theline shaft means andwhenuncoupled-permittinganyone par-- tition means together with itsaccessories; to be bodily demountedout of said base.

LOUIS I-LLMER VERNON'R. PALLAS.

